A POS terminal and a vertical scanner are used as information processing apparatuses of a POS system provided on a register counter in a store. As the arrangement of these information processing apparatuses, for example, the POS terminal is arranged on a register table and the vertical scanner is arranged on a sucker table (a sink cabinet).
The vertical scanner reads a barcode and the like through optical mark recognition. Since the vertical scanner is arranged to be fixed to the sucker table, an operator moves commodities to the vertical scanner. It is difficult to read barcodes of heavy commodities and the like using the vertical scanner. Therefore, as the POS terminal and the vertical scanner, there is also known a vertical scanner having a small hand scanner capable of reading a barcode through optical mark recognition.
The hand scanner is connected to the information processes apparatuses by a signal cable or the like. When the operator brings the hand scanner close to a barcode of a commodity, the hand scanner reads the barcode with a laser beam.
When not in use, the hand scanner is placed in a fixing device (a dedicated stand) set in the register table, the sucker table, the vertical scanner, the register counter, or the like. JP-A-2002-140661 discloses a fixing device for a hand scanner manufactured by bending a sheet-like member having a hole. There is also known a fixing device with which the hand scanner can be hooked to a side of the vertical scanner.
However, the fixing device for the hand scanner and the information processing apparatuses have problems explained below. When the fixing device is used, it is likely that, when the hand scanner is not in use, the hand scanner drops from the fixing device because a shopping basket or the like touches a cable of the hand scanner.
Since the hand scanner always generates a laser beam, it is also likely that the laser beam enters the eyes of a customer because of placement or drop of the hand scanner.